If you’ve filed for an extension for reporting your 2007 federal income tax, your deadline is quickly arriving. Here are some important resources to help you make that deadline.

File your taxes for free. The Free File Alliance allows residents in most states to file for free as long as the taxpayer meets certain qualifications. Here is a list of different services that provide options to file your tax return for free.

Economic Stimulus Tax Rebate Calculator. If you haven’t heard, many people who earned income in 2007 are eligible to receive some of their taxes back in the form of the economic stimulus. This calculator helps you estimate how much the government owes you for this particular payment. The deadline for filing your taxes to receive a stimulus payment is October 15.

TurboTax Online (the Federal Free Edition) is one of the most popular methods of filing taxes without an accountant. I’ve used this in the past and I was happy with the results.

The online version is good for simple taxes, but if you have more complex situations, you may want to try TurboTax Premier (with support for investments and rental properties) or TurboTax Deluxe to focus on deductions you may receive for mortgage interest paid, donations, or education expenses. Self-employed individuals may opt for TurboTax Home and Business.

H&R Block also offers a variety of software for filing your taxes, all available for completing your federal income tax filing before the October 15 deadline. TaxCut comes in several different flavors, including software packages on CD-ROM and online editions. One of these online services is directed towards young taxpayers, Tango.

I filed my taxes with TaxAct, as I have for the past few years, after switching from TurboTax Online when it was no longer free for me.

The new versions of all the Quicken products are available to purchase starting today, and shipping of the new software will begin on September 9. Intuit, the company that develops the Quicken software and owns the brand, is offering some special discounts to certain websites including Consumerism Commentary. I was not selected to be included in the Quicken 2009 beta test, so I have not seen the software yet. I will most likely download the latest version and share my thoughts as soon as possible.

I’ve been generally happy with my switch from Microsoft Money to Quicken several years ago. There were some improvements I hoped for last year after my dissatisfaction with the earliest release of Quicken 2007 and my reconsideration after Intuit released some fixes. None of the ideas on my wish list were included in the 2008 version, so I’d like to get a look at any improvements in the newest release.

Here are the products now available as well as the discounted price for each. These prices beat even those listed by Amazon.com. All of these products except for the Online Edition can be ordered as CD-ROMs to be delivered to you or as direct downloads.

More discounted Quicken products and other deals are available here.

I will continue to be a Quicken user. There have been many attempts to develop web-based software for money management, including Mint, Geezeo, and even Quicken Online (review here). None of these programs suit my needs at this point.

The popularity of filing tax returns online has risen in the past few years thanks to online programs that make it incredibly easy. Unfortunately, the IRS doesn’t let you file your taxes online directly, you have to go through third parties like H&R Block or Intuit to do so. My third part of choice over the past couple of years has been TaxAct.

The fees that we pay to file taxes online allow the IRS to do less manual work. It seems they should offer the service for free, but the government partners with software vendors who are willing to offer the service for profit, although some service do offer federal filing for free if your income is below a certain limit.

I-CAN! is a new service from a non-profit organization that offers free tax filing for everyone. Well, almost everyone:

You can generally use I-CAN!™ E-file unless you own a business, are a church employee or clergy member, sold real estate in 2007 or you or your employer have a non-US address. If you are in the military or you are disabled you may be eligible for tax credits that are not included in I-CAN!™ E-file.

I-CAN! is proud of the fact they don’t offer instant loans or cash based on anticipated refunds, like the bg guys. These are strong moneymakers, but are often viewed as a little unethical. The fee for these loans, when represented as an interest rate, border on predatory.

I would have liked to try I-CAN!’s software for comparison with the calculations presented by other software. I’ve read at least one complaint that I-CAN! has made significant errors in calculation; one commenter on Consumerist noted his 1099-MISC was not included when determining the final tax bill. Since I will require a Schedule C, I will unfortunately not qualify to use the I-CAN! software.

If you are able to use the software to file your taxes and would like to compare the results with those from other calculations or software, feel free to check back in and let us know.

The other day, I participated in a preview of the new Quicken Online product, scheduled to launch on January 8. This new product is intended to compete with some of the existing money management web tools currently existing, like Mint, reviewed by Sasha here, Geezeo, and Wesabe. Intuit has spotted a need for a more robust solution for managing cash flow, and the targeted audience, “young and responsible,” is increasingly turning towards the web for software.

The philosophy behind Quicken Online is that people are living beyond their means and need help managing short-term cash flow. The most pressing question for many younger earners is whether they will have enough money to pay their bills. Therefore, they haven’t built in tools yet to manage investments. Quicken Online will track your checking, savings, and credit card accounts.

Right away I saw that Quicken Online is very different than the traditional Quicken desktop software. Read the rest of this article »